Valve for automobile heaters



July 27, 1943- H. J. DE N. MccoLLuM v2,325,189

VALVE FOR AUTGMOBLE HEATERS Original Filed June 24, 1939 Henry `JNg'Meooiiunnoimgmjii.A 1

3 Claims." (ci. 11375161);

My inventionfrelates generally .to :valves 'for automobileheaters -oflthel internal combustion type, and morexparticulfarly'fto improved'safety means for preventingdamage to the-'heater `and to adjacent partsof-the automobile-due tofoverheating. l i Y This applicationis adivision.of myicopendingl application Serial :No.f28l,0v1 l,filed June2, 1939,

' vi'dedwitha thermostaticallyfoperable ventvalve in which the subjectmatter hereofrislbroadly Y claimed and whichihas Vmatured' intorUnitedIt is an object` ofi-my invention tolprovidean improved means-forshutting off` the heaternwhenever' the temperatureofv the radiator'element thereof` becomes excessively or'v dangerously high.

A further object-is to provide an improved shut oi` devicefor automobilelheaters of the internal combustion type which will `befoperativeto'shut 'off' the heater Whenthe temperature thereof exceeds apredetermined maximumV value, andlmay i readily Vbe reconditioned forAoperation when the heater drops to normaloperating-temperature\l Afurther'object is toprovide an improved thermostatically operable meansto shutloithe heater when a predeterminedmaximumy temperatureisexceeded. l V Y v Avfurther object is to providea shutofrdevioe of theabove Vmentioned type 'which "is siinfple' in construction-,Y'dependablei-n operation, vand-Which may be*economically-manufaetred 'v Y' Otherobjects will appeariroin'the following f States Letters Patent No.2,273,955,` granted Janl nary 27, 1942.

which openedupon a predetermined maximum temperature and admitted;atmospheric :air to Y the .Y combustion; v chamber of ,-the heater,thereby renderingv thev mixture soflean1 as. not (to: be com-,bustible-andfthus causing ,extinguishmeht fof the flan-1e;

; accordanceawithlmy presentv invention the same purposeL` isyaccompl-ished in :al more simple. convenient,l reliable-,f andeconomical- ,-manner.

Referring: to Figure-11', thevheateri comprises, genera lly ,rayfuelandairmixinggdevicew which i is i supplied with liquid A 4fue-1 such as`gasoline ,through aiconduit I 2; and feeds a, mixture of the fuel and;airi-nto Y acombustion chamber vHl yWhere the.combustible-, mixture isvignited by an igniter I6 which 'ispreierablyof the 'electrically,heated resistance; Wire 1 type; I, Combustionis maintained by; a`vreigniter plug'. I8'V Ahaving:a"passagevvay:2li through Which'theproductsfof combustion'. flow kinto one endofa circuitous.y passagewayfZformed in a.V radiatorecasung A2.4.V YThe outietfqfthe'pasdescription,reference-being; had to tlieaccompanying-drawing,in which: Y

'Figure 1` is a -fragmentary .sectional view-of an automobile heater ofthe internal combustion type, showing the improved -valvef`closingdevice; Figure 2'is an enlargedfragmentarytransverse sectional viewtakenfon thelin'e 2 2 lot'Figuref l;Y

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a part of thevalve:stemf-andfassociated temperateure responsive means '-:ff'o'rClosing? vthe valve.

' In automobile-heaters vof the internal kc'zon'ibustion type,such asare more fully described my United States LettersPatent Nos;2,191,173'granted February 20,. 1940;V and 2,200,232, granted May 7,1940, itis desirabletoprovide somef'means -for causing discontinuanceofthe operation o-fnthe heater whenever the temperaturefofthe radiatorbecomes l excessively-high. While such'v condition doesnotoccurfrequently,v it mayhappen thatthe motor-for driving theifa-nwhichrcirc'ulates the-air ffrom the passengerrcompartment ofthe vehiclevpast Vthe radiator',v may I become inoperative,- fand' 1 as afresult,thefradiator'rmay becomeV4 excessively hot-and cause. damage toparts ofthe'heateror to parts" of the automobilein whichY ibis mounted, or tocontents of the automobile. Tof-prevent such-damage, heatersinthepasthave been prosageway '22 vis;,formed'bya vacuum compensator v26r havingaVenturi shaped passageway 32.8A exvtendii'ig` therethrough the mouth3i? of saidpassageway forming a ,scatffor a` ,control valvej32.

,'Iheproducts of for'nbustion 'aredrawn through the piSsageway 28;andjaconduit 34into the'intakemanifold l36Y 'of the internal'combustionengine'v of the*automobile;ory to any 'other suitable space latsubatmo'spheric pressure.

Theradiatorycasting 24is vsurrounded 'by "a shell 3'8 Which-hasfins-f4!) pressed'thereoveryand airr fron'rnthe passenger compartment ofthe ivehiclefis forced downwardly pastthe radiator by a 'lian-4,2.driven by lan electricgmotor 44.' Thel Supply of electrical energy toythe motor 44A and'tfothe igniter VI6Y iscontrolled by aswitch'mechanism vdesignated generallyby the reference character '48;-so asl tofcauseJenergization of ther'igniter lliV 1 and the motor 44 inproper sequence. ThisVv switch mechanism is-'more fully disclosed andclaimed in m-y United 'Statesfletters Patent" No 2,191,174,

*granted February 20,1940;4 VThe operation orf-this -switChmechan-ism isinitially controlled byt-pullv position-in-whichA itlisfshown indottedlines in Figurel tothefpositioninjwliich it isshownfin 1 *ster'ni50-for the"valve32.' i The -stem is guided 'for longitudinal movement ina' bushing 52 which Ais threaded in" thefradiator castinge24gandby lanin- WardlIy-p'rojecting shoulder-informing part of the radiator casting;Thevalve'stem has three'positions of adjustment;namely,fshut'ofposition, slowheat positionyandffull heat position, the

stemfbei-ngheld iin-'the positionftonwhich-itiis adjustedbya deter-1tspring ,llwhiclrf-isengagethestem; thedetentspring-SB-bei-ng-heidagainst able'fwith anyonefoflthreel groove's581-formed :in

. under .all conditions.

movement in a direction parallel with the stem Y by suitableslotsfformed in the bushing 52.

The mechanism above described forms the subject matter of my aforesaidUnited States Letters,

Patent Nos. 2,191,173; 2,200,232, and 2,191,175 the invention claimedherein-relating to 'the since this switch mechanism has a part whichextends into the pathpf movement/of the control knob. For this reason,thereis no possibility of causing a continuous drain of electricalenergy c for supplying the fan motor andthe igniter,

-' shouldlgthefo'peration of the heater be interrupted means forautomatically closing the valve 31 when the temperature of the radiatorbecomes` r" excessively high. This means comprises a bi-l y f metalthermostaticsplit ring 60 which at Ordinary operating temperaturesrestsA in an annular groove 62 formed in the stem 50. jAvspri'ng-*Gll iscompressed between the bimetal ring 60 anda pin 66 secured in the stern50 and having its ends' A projecting therefrom, to provide an abutmentfor the end of the spring. v

, Under normal conditionsof operation the bimetal ring 60 will expandslightly, but to an'eX- tent insuflcient to permit its'disengagement-from the groove 62. Whenfhowever, vthe'ternpe'rature ofthe radiator rises to an unsafe Value, the bimetal ring 60 willexpand-radially'v outwardly a sufficient distance so 'thatit will'nolonger be retained byi the walls of thegroove 62', but will i be forcedto the left (Figure '1) byA thespring 64 until it abuts against theinner -end facefof the bushing 52. The spring 64 thereafter will movethe valve stem 50to the right, to close the valve 32 against its seat 30. The spring 64 is made Sufciently ystrong that Ait may Areadilyovercome the holding force vof the detent spring 5 6.

When the valve`32, isclosed the heater will, of course, be shut offand'gradually dropin temperature; The heater will, however, not'commenceoperationl when the normal temperature is attained unless the vcontrolknob ."48 is again pulled outwardly. Under these conditions,I the bimetal ring 6l) will again snap into. the grooveA 62 and the spring B4thus `again compressed land the device conditioned for operation. IfVthe 'conditionfwhich resulted inf overheating was of a temporary nature,.the-heater Ywill continue to function in a normal manner. If., however,the condition which caused overheating still continued to prevail,VVtheradiatorwill again rise toa temperature above. the predeterminedmaximum permitted by the shut oi device and. the

latterwill again operate to cause discontinuance ofvtheoperation of theheater. Thus, theoperatorof the vehicle will ,berapprized ofthe l*factthat there is some abnormal condition present whichv is causing theheater to tendtooperate at an excessive temperature and steps may thenbe takento remedy the defect. l

It will be i apparent that the shut off device is ofvery simpleconstruction requiring the addition of but three parts V (split bimetalring 60, spring 64, and pin 66) to a heater of, otherwise standardconstruction. vIt will also be clear that the device -will necessarilybevery reliable in operation, since the spring 64 .may be made sufbythe, shut .ofi means heretofore described.

- From'a consideration of the principles underlying-thejpresent`invention, it willv be apparent to those skilled in the art that theinvention may be appliedto a large variety yof different forms ofautomobile heaters and heaters of a similar type.

' While I have shown and described a particular form of my invention, itwill be apparentto those 'skilled'.in-the art that it1rnaypbe embodiedin various other forms, all embodying the underly- Aing principles ofYthe invention. I therefore desire to include within the scope` of thefollowing claims all such equivalent constructions whereby substantiallytheresults of my invention may be obtained by substantially` the samemeans.

Iclaim: f l 1. vIn a -valve assembly, Vin combination, a valve,

YaV seat forV said valve, manually operable-means for controlling saidvalve, said manually operable means including-a stem securedto saidvalve,

`resilient meansY attached to said stem and oper- ;able to close saidvalve, agroove formedinsaid stem,-y and a temperature responsiverbimetal ring carried by said stem normally fitting-in said groove, andholding said resilient `means outof operation, and-.adapted uponattainmentoi a predetermined maximum temperature to expand suicientlytopermit its disengagement from said groove, thereby releasing saidlresilient means and causing said valveftouclose. l

2.v In a valve assembly, in combination-, a valve for ,controllingthefluid through said assembly, manually operable vmeans forl controllingsaid valve, said manually operable means including a stern and a bushingfor guiding said stem, an annular groove formed in said stem, a shouldercarriedv by said stem and spaced .from said groove,

a temperature responsive split kbimetal ring normally fitting insaidgroove but adapted by-attainment of a predetermined abnormal temperatureto be disengagedirom said groove,V andresilient -means comprising aspring coiled about Y said stem and constrained between said'shoulderand Isaid ring so that when said predetermined temperatur e ,i s`attained l said spring will force said ring, from said grooveandagainst said bushing thereby moving said stem and closing said valve.A

3. In a valve assembly, in combination,` avalve for controlling thevflowy ot.. fluid through -said assembly, manually operable'means forcontrollingsaid valve, said last-named means including a valve stemhaving a shoulder thereon, yieldabledetent means for, holding said stemin one ciently strong to assure closing Vofthe valve 32 is self-cookingmerely uponpulling the control lbutton 48 outwardly rendersthedevicesubstantially foolproof, since the v reconditioningo f thedevice for operation is a necessaryincident .to causing operation oitheheater. A f

,It will be noted that in the construction shown the control knob 481smovedjinwardly (tothe .-right) whenever l the radiatortemperatureexceeds the predetermined -maximum value, and

thus the controlvknob iseffective to open the.

switches included inthe-switch mechanism 46,

The fact that the ldevice position Y,of adjustment,resilient meanscapable

